A(nother) Uni Watch Reader Design Hits The Ice

Readers will recall that during the month of August (when Paul takes his much-deserved sabbatical from the weekday duties) I had the honor and pleasure of again hosting a design contest sponsored by the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate of the Red Wings. This year, the Griffins sought Uni Watch reader submissions for a “fauxback” jersey, and the winner of this past year’s contest was John Elbertson, whose winning design was this:

As the Griffins did with last year’s winner Dan Kennedy, this year’s winner received a custom jersey based off of his design, and a special invitation to join with the team at the game where the fauxback jerseys were being worn. That game occurred the previous Friday (January 12, when the Griffins had their “80’s Fauxback Night”), and John was able to make the trip (from Pennsylvania all the way to Grand Rapids!) and document his experience for us.

I had a bunch of back-and-forthing with John via e-mail about his experience, so I’ll lay this out as if we’d have done a Q&A, since it will flow a bit better than just random cutting/pasting of our conversation. Suffice it to say it looks like he had a great time, and I’m thankful to the Griffins for again allowing me to host the contest which provided our winner with such a nice prize!

• • •

Uni Watch: How old are you and where do you live? How long have you been reading/following Uni Watch?

John Elbertson: I’m 38 and live in Shippensburg, PA, about an hour or so south of the Hershey Bears. I’ve been reading/following Uni Watch since 2011, but have been a fan of sports logos and jerseys my whole life.

JE: The first design contest I entered was when I was 8 or 9, for Nintendo Power. It was a contest to design a boss robot for Mega Man 6 (details here). My entry was Nuke Man, a crudely-drawn, socially oblivious concept. There were roughly 200,000 entries, so needless to say I lost. Mind you, back then you had to buy a stamp and physically mail in your entry, so it was a lot of extra effort and who knows if it even got there :(.

UW: Besides these and the Griffins, any other uniform designs you would like to share?

UW: Can you walk me through your design process for the Griffins? I posted the contest on August 1st and received your entry on August 11th.

JE: August 4th, 2017 … My family and I had just returned from Florida, and I came back with a couple of concept ideas in mind. The first was a modified design for the Tampa Bay Lightning (font courtesy of the elevator at our hotel). The other idea I had was for a third jersey for San Diego State University, red with black sleeves, a chest stripe that carried over into the arms, and the Mayan Calendar graphics incorporated somehow.

However, when I heard about the Griffins competition being open, I decided to use my idea for that instead. I ditched the black sleeves almost instantly, despite the fact that it drew similarity to the Red Wings’ white jersey (my all-time favorite). I wanted to use all four colors in the team’s description, but the gold was so close to red/brown that I had to isolate it on white or black.

I had a major problem right from the start with designing an ’80s jersey. My guess was that the Griffins wanted a unique design, but ’80s hockey jerseys are pretty conservative. A lot of the elements in those jerseys can be found in the ’60s, modern times, and probably well into the future. So I googled ’80s jerseys and tried to find elements from any sports that were unique to that decade. I ended up a Phillies-style wordmark that seemed like a good fit, so I had a look at past winners of the competition and saw some of them had wordmark logos too, so I was all set there. In the vein of keeping it simple ’80s style, I kept the striping minimal and didn’t use cuffs, a hem stripe or a yoke.

The G-Wing logo was basically a way for me to get the Red Wings logo on the left side, where it would face front, as it looks to me anyway. I took the shading in the wheel and applied it to the G as a nod to the parent club. The wings were done as retro as I could make them, they almost look art-deco to me. The G-Wing was originally red with gold feathers (pictured above), but seemed inconsistent with the rest of the jersey that way. The font, Typographica, is one I used on my only other contest-winning jersey design, the Florida Flamingos of the IceHL (logos by Colin Magee).

I proofed each draft of the design on my phone to make sure little details weren’t getting lost. Sent it to a couple of friends for critique and everything came back positive. But once all of the designs were revealed, I thought for sure Will Sinnott was going to win. His entry is the benchmark of what proper research on a project looks like. I was just hoping maybe they were picking two winners, and even then things seemed very much up in the air. There were a lot of great designs to choose from.

UW: Wow. That’s impressive. So, take me from finding you won our contest through working with the Griffins on the design to the night your design was actually worn on the ice. Must have been a blast!

JE: August 25th, 2017 … Waiting with my kids at their bus stop. I check my phone and see the story has popped on Uni-Watch. I can barely look, peeking down and sideways. My son asks me what I’m doing, I tell him “just Daddy being a weirdo”. He’s not surprised, he knows I’m checking the contest. I squint and see my name, and I’m like “We won boys!” I give out some high-fives, but I still can’t believe it. For all the years I’ve been doing concepts, I never thought one would get made into a real jersey.

UW: That must have been a pretty surreal moment. OK, what next?

JE: Shortly after, Marissa Malson [the Griffins’ Director of Digital Marketing — PH] contacts me. She offered me tickets for the whole family, but my wife had a work commitment, so I went solo.

UW: Dang.

JE: Fast forward to January 12th, and I’m driving through Ohio just as the blizzard is starting to hit. Got really lucky I didn’t leave later. After a 10-hour trip, I pull into Grand Rapids and grab a couple of slices of pizza from Lucky Luciano’s. If you’re ever there, I highly recommend it.

Next thing I know, I’m going into the Van Andel Arena through the back like Goodfellas, and Marissa meets me and gives me my jersey. It looks awesome! I’ve always loved CCM jerseys. And the gold on the actual jersey looks lighter and really pops. We go out to center ice for pictures, and I manage not to fall on my face, thus conquering the stupidest legit fear I’ve ever had.

UW: Sweet. Looks a bit “snug.” Nah, it looks great. OK, what next?

JE: I get an arena tour (it’s NICE), then go out to the penalty box to watch warm-ups.

UW: OK, so the game starts and you’re watching all these guys playing in jerseys you designed. That’s gotta be amazing. Since it was a fauxback design and night, did the Griffins play it up as such?

JE: I take my seat and the game begins. I’m trying not to critique my design, and just enjoy myself. ’80s ads (including the Where’s the Beef lady) and shows are being played on the jumbo, and ’80s tunes are being played at every stoppage.

UW: Neat!

JE: The whole evening was really well put-together by the Griffins.

UW: How’d the game go?

JE: After two periods, the Griffins are playing well. One of the other 12 finalists, Jordan Santalucia [here’s his contest submission –PH], comes up to congratulate me, which blew my mind because I didn’t think anyone would be interested I was there. We ended up talking through the whole second intermission about concepts and such. He’s still in school, so I urged him to start working on a ton of concepts now, so he can learn the things I’m just learning now at 38, like how the vertical seam is supposed to stop at the hem stripe. And pay attention in figure drawing class. I still can’t draw a thumb right.

UW: How’d your design look on the ice?

JE: See for yourself!

UW: Damn, that looks good. What happened next?

JE: Before I knew it the game was over, with the Griffins pulling out a 4-2 victory over the Monsters. I stayed for the jersey auction, thinking these would go for a couple hundred bucks or so. But the guy next to me is confident they’ll go for more. The first jersey went for $1,100! There was some serious money being dished out for the Griffins Youth Foundation, which made me really happy. A husband and wife paid $1400 and $1300 for their jerseys, shortly after Svechnikov’s goes for $2000!!! Even the mascot’s goes for $500 to the aforementioned guy next to me. The decision to make the jersey red was also made in part due to the fact they didn’t have a red jersey, and maybe they could keep it as a third. I didn’t know at the time they were going to auction them off.

UW: That’s fantastic! A great night and a good cause too.

JE: I hated to leave, but I don’t think the Griffins were going to let me live at the arena for a few days, so I head back home. I couldn’t wait to get home and show everybody the jersey!

UW: Beautiful. Anything else?

JE: Yes. A couple videos. Check out this 80s style preview:

Here’s a video that they played on the jumbo LOL. “Griff Roll – Never Gonna Give You Up”

JE: I don’t know if I’ll ever have an experience like that again, but I strongly urge all of the concept artists and hockey fans out there to go for it again and again. I’ve lost my fair share of design contests and I know it feels crummy, but when you finally pull it off, it’s an experience you’ll never forget.

Thanks again to the Griffins, Marissa Malson, Phil Hecken and Uni-Watch for making all of this possible. Can’t wait to see what the entries look like this summer!

• • •

And there you have it. An experience of a lifetime — all made possible by Marissa, the Griffins, and their desire to work with me on their fauxback design contest all the way back in August. Thanks, John, for sharing this with the readership!

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The TickerBy Anthony Emerson

Baseball News: Here’s a look at the University of Cincinnati’s new pullover jerseys. Love those sleeve stripes! (from @markomlor). … Cameron Ilich sends along this awesome poster for a Fall Out Boy, Rise Against and MGK concert at Wrigley Field. … @BSmile tweeted this awesome mid-century Busch Stadium popcorn holder. Anyone ever see that pitching Cardinal logo before? … So this is new: a Wisconsin, Brewers-branded vanity license plate that has been personalized with “PADRES”. I wonder how many Brewers and Padres fans there are? (From Dylan Buell).

Soccer News: DC United launched their new home kits yesterday. It includes the coordinates for Buzzard’s Point, the neighborhood in Washington where DCU’s new stadium (and Nationals Park) is located. More photos here (thanks to Kim Kolb, Ed Kalas, John Muir and everyone else who sent this along). … Every year, MLS photographs every team’s manager wearing the team’s scarf. This year, all scarves are on the same template, except for the newest club LAFC (from @nordeckian). … I feel like we’ve covered this before, but just in case: The Carolina Dynamo of the Premier Development League uses a poorly-photoshopped version of the Nottingham Forest crest as their own (from Tyler Johnson).

“Kraken” is problematic for me on two grounds. Well, three, the third being that it’s a trendy word, and trendy team names are terrible in the long run. But mainly (1) it needs to be plural, not singular. Kraken is a type of mythical monster, not the name of a specific individual monster. (Kraken is like whale, not like Moby Dick.) And (2) kraken are an Atlantic monster of Norse origin, and have no geographic or cultural connection to the Pacific Northwest.

On the other hand, we absolutely need a team with a cephalopod logo in North American sports.

Wade Heidt|
January 20, 2018 at 12:21 pm |

Sockeyes fits geographically as it is a Pacific salmon.

We have a couple of sports teams featuring a salmon identity just north up here in Metro Vancouver.

-There is the junior B hockey Richmond Sockeyes. Here is a photo showing the evolution of their logo from 1972 to present:

I had to look up to see what a kracken is. For some reason I immediatedly think “get cracking” – which is an eggs advertisment campaign.

It won’t win – but I like Emeralds. Emeralds I suspect would allow them to incorporate a bit of that vibrant limey green color into their uni which I suspect they will want to do

Colin|
January 20, 2018 at 2:45 pm |

And probably the inevitable Wizard of Oz night

Oakville Endive|
January 20, 2018 at 3:08 pm |

The players could wear ruby skates

Wade Heidt|
January 20, 2018 at 8:24 am |

Some editing to my contributing to hockey ticker. The photos are from this past week. Stuart Skinner is still wearing his Lethbridge Hurricanes mask in the photo but has switched pads to match his new team in Swift Current.

The trade involving the 2 goalies was on January 9, not last month.

RSB|
January 20, 2018 at 5:32 pm |

Skinner’s pads look pretty scuffed up for only being a week or so old. I bet he used decals to cover the red on his old pads, glove and blocker, like Lundqvist did with his Rangers pads during the Outdoor Classic.

I thought I saw your Lightning sweater on the Icethetics website. Great work.

Fred K|
January 20, 2018 at 8:45 am |

Congrats John! Putting Ship back on the map haha. The jersey looked great on the ice and it is so cool to see it transform from concept to live action. I also really enjoyed some of the other concepts, especially the hershey Bears alt with the cream. Something about cream on ice just looks classic (i.e. Minesota Wild).
I was also encouraged to read Johns advice on future contests. If you dont win keep trying. There are a lot of talented folks out there and i enjoyed hearing his approach. Speaking of redesign contests, If i got to name the hockey team in Seattle id name them the Seattle Slew and put a nasty horse on the chest like the old calgary flames alt.

Regarding the center ridge on old-style Riddell helmets – it is a holdover from how they were originally made. When the first came out with plastic shells they didn’t have molds that could make an entire shell, so the shell was molded in 3 pieces – the left side and right side were either glued or welded together and a raised center piece was glued/welded over the seam.

Later on, when teams started using center stripes the equipment managers found it was easy to use the ridge to make sure the stripes were centered. The ridge became a hallmark for Riddell helmets so the continued to have them after they were able to make one-piece shells. That being said the 3-piece design was still available from them until the end of the 1960s for players who preferred it.

Brian|
January 20, 2018 at 5:24 pm |

Very good explanation. Thanks.

RS Rogers|
January 20, 2018 at 9:22 am |

The new DC United shirt is pretty much the first black DCU jersey I’ve not hated. Something about the sublimated stripes makes the thing work for me. And good on the team for enlisting Chef Andrés for the video!

Adam|
January 20, 2018 at 9:40 am |

Paul Kim owns the name metropolitans in the US. NHL owns the Canadian rights. Maybe that’s why they’re going a different direction.